If Pinware described its campsites as having hot and cold running water with food nearby, they really couldn’t be accused of lying. Measuring just 68 hectares and bordered by the Pinware River on one side and the Strait of Belle Isle on the other, it’s one of Labrador’s hidden gems, renowned for its trout and salmon fishing (running water, food nearby: get it?).

Trevor Pilgrim of Mayflower Adventures in Roddickton, NL, believes in giving his guests a hearty breakfast before he takes them out salmon fishing. One of his favourite haunts is Beaver Brook and its world-famous limestone cave, known as the Underground Salmon Pool.

Fast forward to 2012. I find myself in the rugged Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, at the historic town of Bonavista frantically trying to channel the vague memories of my salad days on the banks of Berkshire.

Life member Matt Stevens’ transformation from dejected and defeated to high-octane adrenaline-induced ecstasy was instantaneous. It happened on the third crank into his retrieve across the inlet to Three-Mile Lake. The lure stopped, the rod loaded on the set, and Matt knew that he’d finally…finally… hooked the type of fish he'd dreamed about countless times during the previous two months.

“Newfoundland and Labrador may lie in the Atlantic a time zone ahead of the rest of North America, but visiting Canada's easternmost province is like taking a step back in time…” Read about the province’s Viking heritage in this NY Daily News article.